August 29, 2014
Down to Earth With: Kerry Sieh
After more than 30 years as a professor and researcher at Caltech, earthquake geologist Kerry Sieh (pronounced “sea”) surprised his colleagues …
The EARTH archive
August 2014
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65 articles · Page 1 of 3
August 28, 2014
Down to Earth With: Tom Malloy
Butte, Mont., is home to one of the nation’s largest Superfund sites — a 300-meter-deep lake of acidic, heavy metal-contaminated water known as …
August 21, 2014
Infrasound reveals lava lake levels
The rises and falls of volcanic lava lakes are not easily tracked, especially when the lakes aren’t visible from crater rims. But recently, …
August 21, 2014
Human-induced earthquakes shake less
Occurrences of earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States have increased since 2009 — a phenomenon that many scientists attribute to …
August 19, 2014
Natural arsenic levels in Ohio soils exceed regulatory standards
A new study in which all 842 soil samples taken in Ohio had more arsenic than recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raises the …
August 12, 2014
Africa's impact is one that even the dinosaurs would have seen coming
The crater left by the infamous Chicxulub asteroid responsible for finishing off the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, was more than 19 …
August 12, 2014
Unprecedented low water-vapor levels detected on exoplanets
Dust surrounding a star coalesces into larger particles, spinning and building over a million years or more to create the beginning of a planet. …
August 12, 2014
Geomedia: 'Dinosaur 13' chisels away at the story behind discovery of Sue
As the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, “Sue” is an icon. She even has her own logo and her own Twitter account. Sue made …
August 11, 2014
Benchmarks: August 15, 1984 & August 21, 1986: African killer lakes erupt
Only three lakes in the world are known to explosively release dissolved gases from their bottom waters. All three are in Africa; two have …
August 8, 2014
Floating nuclear plants may be safer from tsunamis
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake just off the coast of Tohoku, Japan, set off a devastating tsunami that swamped the Fukushima Daiichi …
August 8, 2014
Sunken logs a delicacy for ocean bottom-feeders
Wood isn’t often on the menu for deep sea-dwelling critters, but for some species, there’s nothing like a tasty tree stump for dinner. Five years …
August 8, 2014
Volcanic ash feed southern ocean plankton
Ash plumes from volcanoes in South America and elsewhere may spur large blooms of plankton in otherwise barren parts of the Southern Ocean, but …
August 8, 2014
The subcontinent's sturdy mammals
India is home to some hardy mammals, according to a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers reported that 20 of …
August 8, 2014
Extra rib may be sign of mammoth decline
High rates of a congenital defect in woolly mammoths may offer evidence that inbreeding and environmental stress contributed to the animals’ …
August 8, 2014
South American fossils offer revised view of Gondwana assembly
Fossils of a known age have been found for the first time in rocks in Brazil that, although long-studied, had previously eluded scientists’ …
August 8, 2014
Warm river water melted Arctic sea ice
In September 2012, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice was the smallest on record since satellite monitoring began in 1979. Several …
August 8, 2014
Longer season for Rocky Mountain wildflowers
A nearly 40-year study of Rocky Mountain wildflower phenology has found that almost two-thirds of species have changed their blooming patterns in …
August 8, 2014
New model predicts pumice drift patterns
In July 2012, the Havre volcano in the remote southwestern Pacific erupted, creating a raft of pumice that covered more than 400 square …
August 8, 2014
Acid oceans followed Chicxulub impact
Within days after the massive Chicxulub impact that ended the Cretaceous Period 65.5 million years ago, a deluge of acid rain may have turned …
August 7, 2014
Changing the landscape: Geoscientists embrace 3-D printing
In a modest, low-slung room tucked in the back of Oregon State University’s Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory, a small box sits quietly …
August 4, 2014
Getting there & getting around the Aussie Outback
The Red Center’s gateway airports are Alice Springs and Ayers Rock/Uluru. Neither hosts direct flights from the U.S. but both are well connected …
August 4, 2014
Travels in Geology: Aussie Outback Adventure
Australia, having experienced little recent tectonic activity, is the world’s lowest and flattest continent on average. But don’t take that to …
August 4, 2014
Down to Earth With: Chris Strong
Being a weatherman is sometimes a thankless job, particularly when forecasts don’t pan out as expected. But the two-fold task of meteorologists — …
August 4, 2014
Benchmarks: September 1, 1957: Fossil Cycad National Monument is dissolved
On Sept. 1, 1957, with the stroke of a pen, the U.S. Congress declared Fossil Cycad National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota to be no …